Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) is an effective technique for providing link adaptation in both Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) communications. ACM is typically accomplished by algorithms working together in both the receiver and the transmitter. The receiver makes an estimate of the channel quality by measuring the SIR of one or more transmissions from the transmitter. The measured SIR is then used to compute a CQI.
Each CQI may correspond to a particular configuration of radio resources such as code rate and modulation type. After each SIR measurement is made, the CQI is computed. For example, the SIR is compared to a table of SIR-CQI pairs and the CQI value that yields the best performance, such as in terms of Packet Error Rate (PER) or throughput, is selected and sent back to the transmitter. The transmitter then selects a radio configuration that is no more aggressive than that indicated by the received CQI value. In an otherwise unpopulated cell, the transmitter would simply use a configuration consistent with the channel quality indicated by the CQI.
However, SIR alone does not give complete information about the quality of the channel. For example, in order to maximize data throughput, a channel with a large delay spread and/or a large Doppler spread should not be assigned as high of a CQI value. Additionally, the CQI will depend on the receiver design.